Stop Polishing Sentences. Start Bending Space-Time

A $1.50 hot dog does more positioning than a $150k rebrand. Costco hasn’t budged that price tag since 1985, and it screams one word more loudly than any copywriter ever could: VALUE.

After fifteen years of fielding objections about “positioning,” two patterns repeat:

Messaging masquerading as positioning.
This won’t work in my niche: B2B SaaS, solopreneur, you name it.

Both objections confuse gravity with glitter. Let’s dismantle them.

1. Position ≠ Messaging: The Gravity-Well Model

Position is the dense mass at your company’s core.
Messaging is the light reflecting off orbiting moons (products, ads, UI choices, your LinkedIn headline).

Stakeholders may describe you in wildly different words, yet they’ll still orbit the same invisible center, if the mass is real.

2. The Four Levels of Positioning

Level	What It Means	Copyability	Cost / Risk
1 — Saying It	Taglines, slogans, “I help X do Y” sentences	Instant	Cheap
2 — Proving It	Testimonials, metrics, case studies	Moderate	Low
3 — Being It	Decisions that cost real money (Costco hot dog, Patagonia “Don’t Buy This Jacket”)	Hard	High
4 — Owning It	Business model engineered around one mental territory. Amazon = Convenience, Tesla = Future, Apple = Experience	Nearly impossible	Existential

If you fear copycats, you’re living at Level 1 or 2.

3. Three Mini-Case Studies

(Quick Reference. From Position to “I help…”)

Example	Position (Core Concept, Level 4)	What	Niche (Who Feels It Most)	USP / Edge	Sample “I help…” Line
Superman	HOPE	Immediate rescue from existential threats	Citizens of Metropolis in mortal danger	Faster‑than‑light response, super strength	“I help endangered civilians survive existential threats with super‑powered rescue.”
HubSpot	INBOUND	All‑in‑one CRM & marketing automation that scales relationships	SMBs & mid‑market B2B companies trying to grow without enterprise budgets	Freemium entry; unified platform; inbound methodology	“We help scaling businesses attract, engage, and delight customers with an all‑in‑one inbound growth platform.”
Nike	HUMAN POTENTIAL	Gear that unlocks the athlete inside everyone	Everyday and elite athletes who aspire to personal bests	Performance tech fused with cultural relevance	“We help athletes of every level smash personal records with performance‑driven gear.”

Notice how the “I help…” statements sit in Level 1, far above the gravitational core.

4. Run This AUDIT on Your Brand

One-Word Stress Test – Reduce your strategy to a single noun.
Balance-Sheet Proof – Where do you spend money that a copycat would hate to match?
Orbit Map – Ask employees, customers, and investors for a one-sentence description. Do their answers cluster?
Copycat Cost Estimate – If a rival could mimic you with <3 weeks and <$50k, dig deeper.
Message Lag Check – If operations evolved but the website copy hasn’t changed in six months, update the words, not the core.

5. Put It to Work

Your editable 4-Level Positioning Canvas (below) shows the three examples above. Copy this into your Google Docs, duplicate the blank column, plug in your own data, and see which cells feel flimsy. If Level 3 or 4 is empty, that’s tomorrow’s agenda.

My challenge to you: What’s your $1.50 hot dog? The decision aligns so closely with your core that changing it would disrupt the business? Drop your answer (or your canvas screenshot) in the comments. Let’s see who’s ready to bend the market, not just the copy.

Positioning 4‑Level Canvas

How to Use

Fill each cell for your own brand. The three columns are pre‑populated with example answers for Superman (individual hero), HubSpot (B2B SaaS), and Nike (consumer brand) so you can see what “good” looks like.

Level	Definition	Superman	HubSpot	Nike
1 — Saying It	Public claims, slogans, taglines	“Champion of Truth & Justice.”	“Grow Better.”	“Just Do It.”
2 — Proving It	Evidence, case studies, measurable results	Global news footage of rescues; citizens’ testimonials	Customer case studies, ROI metrics, HubSpot Academy success stories	Athlete records, endorsements, customer reviews
3 — Being It	Decisions that cost real money/time/risk	Sacrifices personal life; always answers distress calls; refuses political power	Freemium CRM; heavy investment in free education; conferences that teach inbound for free	Billions in R&D for performance tech; backs activist athletes; refuses to abandon social‑impact stands
4 — Owning It	Entire business model bends around a single mental territory	Owns HOPE	Owns INBOUND GROWTH	Owns HUMAN POTENTIAL

Highly recommend starting with the CEO Clarity Kit before doing this canvas. The kit will give you all the outputs which you can drop into this canvas (It’s fully self-guided). Start here.

Blank Template (Copy‑Paste):

Level	Definition	Your Brand
1 — Saying It	Taglines, slogans, claims
2 — Proving It	Testimonials, case studies, measurable results
3 — Being It	Decisions that cost real money/time/risk
4 — Owning It	Business model engineered around one mental territory

Position	What	Niche	USP	“I help…” Line

Get the canvas as an editable Google Doc here.

Platonic